Arm-wrestling champ's toughest fight: raising funds to get to world championships

Alma Keuhl has to wrestle one last hurdle into submission to reach the pinnacle of her sport.

The 22-year-old Pembroke woman holds the Canada Professional Armwrestling Championship left arm belt, having defeated archrival Heidi Cordner last January. At the nationals held on July 1 in Laval, Que., Keuhl grappled her way to second place with her right arm and third place with her left. With the top two finishers having bowed out of going to the world championships in Antalia, Turkey, in October, Keuhl now has to pin down $4,000 to cover airfare, accommodation and other expenses.

A GoFundMe drive, Help get Alma Keuhl to Turkey, is in place and Keuhl is looking to local businesses to pitch in. There’s logo space available on the sleeves of her jersey, and since the worlds will be live-streamed on the Internet that means a world of exposure.

“But it’s a struggle,” Keuhl said. “It’s not doing well, but I have high hopes and as long as we can get past Sept. 29 with booking everything, it’d be great.”

Arm wrestling is a natural fit for Keuhl, born and bred in the Ottawa Valley and of a line of arm wrestlers, including her mom, her dad and her uncle and going back to her grandmother. Her father, John Keuhl, even appears in the background in a competition included in the Sylvester Stallone’s arm wrestling movie Over The Top.

Keuhl was 15 when her father took her to a local challenge event where Allen Ford, a member of the Ottawa Valley High Hookers, was challenging all-comers to arm wrestle as a fundraiser.

“I said I can give this a go,” Keuhl said. “I lost, obviously.”

But Ford invited the teenager to come out and train with the High Hookers and she competed as a novice in a provincial championship, placing second with her right arm and fifth with her left. In the very next tournament she entered, she was told that she was “pulling pro,” ready to face off against the pro adult women. Facing top pro Laura Cook in the final, Keuhl came second.

“(That) did surprise me. Usually you have to wait and do novice for about a year and then compete pro, but not in this case. It was a huge achievement for me,” she said.

She continued competing at regionals and provincials throughout high school and while attending Algonquin College in Pembroke, but after graduation, she was able to devote more time to training.

Keuhl currently arm-wrestles and trains with the Arnprior Pryers.

The ideals of sportsmanship, being supportive, remaining humble in victory, and positive in defeat are important to Keuhl. With matches available for viewing on the internet, she has heard from a fan as far away as Tartu, Estonia, who, as soon as she beat Cordner, contacted her on Facebook and told her how much he looked up to her.

“I’m not just doing it for myself. I’m doing it for the people who look up to me. This reached to Tartu and I couldn’t believe that.

“I told (the fan) my life went downhill and then uphill and I do this for him because he needs the inspiration to strive for something better. I help people along the way,” she said.

Through her day job as a personal support worker she is able to share the stories of her arm-wrestling adventures with some of her clients. Keuhl said her exploits help lift the clients up.

“I want to put myself on the map and take everybody with me. It’s not just for me. It’s for other people as well.”

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